BENEFITS GALORE!

Verse for Today:Friday, January 07, 2011Psalms 116:12 –What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?

When we come to the presence of the Lord, we would be overwhelmed with all that are related to Him. His attributes, glory and all His acts are far beyond what we can comprehend. We can only swim deep into the depths of all that is in God and yet we may not see more than a few drops in that ocean. When it comes to the mighty acts He has performed for His children, they are also so vast and deep. Each act of God for His children has its immediate effect in their practical lives, but has far deeper implications and linkages to facts, figures, people and generations. This can be seen in the way of redemption that God planned for man. God chose one man, one family, one nation, several generations and thousands of years to work on it to bring it to its completion and it culminated in the sacrificial death of His Son on the cross. But for it to touch each of us, it has taken around two thousand years more. So is the case with our daily needs. For our needs to meet each day, God has done so much in creation. For our health and welfare, He has created so much of resources and connected them to various people to make it touch our lives each day, and it is also far beyond our minds to comprehend. When we think of all of these, including the crisis points in our lives that He has touched, we can realize that there is so much that we receive from Him as benefits to each of us as individuals, families and nations. When we consider all of these, how can it be possible for us to thank Him enough? The Psalmist implores us to see this reality and continue to place ourselves as living sacrifices each day of our lives as true worship. We need to take the cup of salvation to call upon His name and be continually grateful to Him. Such gratitude should be reflected in our plans, desires, priorities, likes, dislikes and the way we utilize the resources He has entrusted with us.

Dear friend, have you ever tried to explore the vastness of the person and work of our Lord? In one sense it is a futile attempt because we cannot reach the bottom of that ocean, but it is a genuine response from us, to desire to know the depth of what He has done for us. As we meditate the various dimensions of what He has done for us, our hearts will certainly be overwhelmed with praise to Him for His thoughtfulness about each and every minute aspect of our lives. These micro level acts of His will tell us how much He cares for us. He considers us as little chicks under the wings of the mother bird for full protection, care and providence. We are like the apple of His eyes. We are the sheep who sit on our Shepherd’s shoulders and move forward with Him. In Him alone we will find total sufficiency in all that need. As we meditate on His benevolence, there is a total feeling of exasperation as to how we can meaningfully express our gratitude to Him at least to a small measure! We are often at a loss as to how to show Him the extent of our thankful hearts. No matter what we consider as an offering to the Lord, that will prove to be thoroughly inadequate and will never be a near match for His mighty acts on our behalf. Such exasperation was seen in the hearts of the brothers of Joseph when they found out all that Joseph has been doing for them even when they did not deserve any help from Him because of the way they treated Him. Mephibosheth had the same feeling as He was dining at the table of King David because He belonged to the family of David’s enemy who tried to kill him. We can also do the same by falling prostrate at the feet of the Lord and submit ourselves to Him as a thank offering at His presence. Nothing other than our lives will even compensate for the love that God has demonstrated on the cross of Calvary through the sacrificial death of His Son. When we are thus overwhelmed with gratitude of such great magnitude, we will not doubt the capacity and willingness of the Lord to meet all our needs on a daily basis. We will thus be able to live a life without anxiety or fear about our daily needs or our future.

Psalms 103:2 – Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

Thought for TodayA heart that is searching and meditating on the benefits of the Lord will not be prone to anxiety or fear about the future.